National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No.
73- Part IEdited by
Carlos Osorio

Assisted by

Kathleen Costar, research and editorial assistance
Florence Segura, research assistance
of the National Security Archive

Natalia Federman, research assistance and Spanish translation
of CELS

Washington D.C. : The National Security
Archive and its partner NGO, the Centro de Estudios Legales
y Sociales (CELS), today praised the State Department's
declassification of more than 4,600 previously secret U.S.
documents on human rights violations under the 1976-83 military
dictatorship in Argentina.

"The documents provide clues to the
fate of 'disappeared' citizens in Argentina by an unchecked
security apparatus, and tell the story of a massive and
indiscriminate counterinsurgency campaign carried out by
the military dictatorship targeting real or imagined subversives
including thousands of labor leaders, workers, clergymen,
human rights advocates, scientists, doctors, and political
party leaders" said Carlos Osorio, director of the
National Security Archive's Argentina Documentation Project.

The special declassification, initiated by
the Clinton Administration and completed by the Bush administration,
has yielded hundreds of cables, memoranda of conversations,
reports and notes between the State Department and the U.S.
Embassy in Buenos Aires, that help clarify a handful of
cases of disappearances. "They are a clear contribution
to families seeking information about their missing relatives
and to Judges seeking to make the military accountable for
past abuses," Osorio added.

On July 10, 2002, Argentine Judge Claudio
Bonadio charged former President Galtieri along with 30
other military officers for the disappearance of a dozen
Montonero subversives in 1980, among them Horacio Campiglia
and Susana Binstock. The documents provide new information
on several issues:

The abduction of Horacio Campiglia and
Susana Binstock by Argentine intelligence with Brazilian
collaboration in Brazil, their detention and disappearance
from the Campo de Mayo detention center, as well as
hints on the fate of dozens of other disappeared people
captured by the military in 1979 and 1980;

Clarification of a handful of cases
of disappeared people and useful information on others;

Structure and modus operandi of the
security and intelligence apparatus involved in the
disappearances in 1979 and 1980 - chain of command of
military intelligence Battalion 601 and the joint operations
center known as Reunion Central leading up to the then
Army commander in chief Leopoldo Galtieri;

Torture in detention centers and assassinations
and disappearances as a counterinsurgency policy of
government forces;

The cooperation between intelligence
and security forces of Argentina and Brazil in illegal
cross border detentions as well as with other Southern
Cone intelligence services, mainly Uruguay and Chile,
under Operation Condor in the mid 1970's;

The spill over of counterinsurgency
operations of Argentina's intelligence and security
units into neighboring Bolivia, Peru and Brazil, as
well as Spain in the early 1980's;

The meticulous documentation by the
U.S. Embassy's human rights team of nearly 10,000 human
rights violations - most of them disappeared.

"The State Department under Secretary Powell - and previously
under Secretary Albright - deserves real credit for this historic
human rights declassification," remarked Thomas S. Blanton,
director of the National Security Archive. "The foreign
service officers who documented human rights abuses at the
time, often to the discomfort of their bosses, and the retirees
and staff who did the work to make these documents public,
all deserve our thanks." Victor Abramovich, director
of CELS, said that the recent human rights charges from the
"dirty war" period against Galtieri made the State
Department declassification even more urgent: "The documents
will help clarify this case of great public importance, as
well as the whole period of military rule."

"This release proves once again that long secret U.S.
documents constitute a powerful historical and judicial tool
to redress the atrocities of the past in Latin America,"
said Archive senior analyst Peter Kornbluh. He and Osorio
called on the Central Intelligence Agency, Defense Intelligence
Agency and other national security agencies to follow the
State Department lead on declassifying their records relating
to human rights abuses.

Since 1999, dozens of victims and relatives, human rights
organizations, judges and US congress people have asked the
U.S. for documents on violations in the Southern Cone during
the decade from 1975-85. Former Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright ordered the collection, review and declassification
of U.S. records on Argentina following an August 16, 2000
meeting in Buenos Aires with leaders of the Grandmothers and
Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, and with the Argentine human rights
organization, the Centro de Estudios Sociales y Legales (CELS).

In November 2000, the Department of State announced the declassification
effort on documents pertaining to "Operation Condor;
disappearances and child kidnapping in Argentina from 1976-83."
State Department officials asked the CIA and Pentagon to participate
by releasing documents from their agency archives, but they
declined to do so. The review process was largely completed
and 35 volumes of 500 pages each were ready to be published
by September 2001. The September 11th tragedy and the fiscal
and political crisis in December in Argentina held up the
release of the documents until now.

The National Security Archive worked with CELS to provide
the State Department with a detailed chronology of key human
rights cases from the "dirty war" period for State's
use in its search and review process. In the coming months,
the National Security Archive will work with the Centro de
Estudios Sociales y Legales in Argentina to produce selections
and analysis for human rights groups, lawyers and judges engaged
in judicial proceedings and in the search for truth.

Note: The following documents are in PDF
format.You will need to download and install the free
Adobe
Acrobat Reader to view.

Document 1: Subject: [Statement by anonymous
U.S. citizen on being subjected to atrocious torture], October
4, 1976

In 1976, the Argentine military launched a major counterinsurgency
campaign. By the end of the year, thousands would be illegally
detained, tortured, assassinated or disappeared. Among the
victims that year, there were half a dozen American citizens.
In this shocking and detailed statement given by one of
those victims to the State Department in Washington, she
reports that her captors " started using the picana
(an electric prod). Then they tied me down and threw water
on me They questioned me but it was more just give
it to her. There. There. There. In genital area They
said they'd fix me so I couldn't have children." The
document also points to the possible involvement of the
Argentine presidential intelligence service (Servicio de
Informaciones del Estado (SIDE)).

In July and September 1976, more than 50 Uruguayans
disappeared in Buenos Aires. On October 28, the Uruguayan
security forces announced that the so-called disappearances
were actually a plot by subversives to infiltrate Uruguay
and carry out a series of assassinations. This cable from
Ambassador Robert Hill in Argentina reveals that the plot
was actually carried out by the Uruguayan security forces,
who captured refugees in cooperation with Argentine security
forces and forced them to stage a mock attack on Uruguay.

In this translation of a document obtained
by the U.S. Embassy, an unknown Argentine military unit
makes an assessment of the subversive situation and lists
the chronological killing of nearly 100 people in clashes
with insurgents. A section of the report reads:

In other documents, Embassy officials remark
how they at times were able to match statistics on disappearances
with the operations of Argentine security units. "This
kind of document as well as lists of detained by Argentine
military units should be declassified by the Argentine military",
says Victor Abramovich, Director of CELS in Buenos Aires.

Document 4: Subject: Memorandum on Torture
and Disappearance in Argentina, May 31, 1978

In the 1970's thousands of political opponents -- real
or suspected subversives -- were seen being captured by
unknown men or security forces or simply walking away from
home or work and nobody heard of them again -- the disappeared.
Most of the disappearances and torture cases occurred in
1976 and 1977.

This 1978 memorandum asserts that "...if there has
been a net reduction in reports of torture, this is not
because torture has been forsworn but 'derives from fewer
operations' because the number of terrorists and subversives
has diminished," and that disappearances "include
not only suspected terrorists but also encompass a broader
range of people -- for example, labor leaders, workers,
clergymen, human rights advocates, scientists, doctors,
and political party leaders. A recent dramatic occurrence
was the abduction in December of five 'mothers of the disappeared'
and two French nuns, whose bodies were reportedly discovered
washed ashore."

Starting in 1977, the U.S. Embassy established
a team to monitor human rights in Argentina. Quickly, the
Embassy became a focal point for families and relatives of
victims of the dirty war presenting denunciations and requesting
the Embassy's assistance. Prompted by one of these denunciations,
this cable reports that Embassy sources indicate that the
disappearance of workers of LOZADUR factory "are the
result of a security operations in the area, presumably by
intelligence elements operating out of the Army Communications
School in nearby Campo de Mayo... (Another source who consorts
with Army intelligence agents has alleged to us that 19 ceramics
workers were executed in Campo de Mmayo in November 1977.)."
The Embassy believes, "there is a great deal of cooperation
generally between management representatives and the security
agencies aimed at eliminating terrorist infiltrators from
the industrial work places and at minimizing the risk of industrial
strife."

Dozens of lists compiled by the U.S. Embassy from hundreds
of requests by relatives, human rights groups in Argentina
and the U.S., and Congressional offices were regularly presented
by the Embassy to the Argentine government in an effort
to locate the disappeared and help guarantee their safety.
This cable from the Embassy contains the names in 103 cases
of disappeared reported in June 1978. Among the names is
a relative of American citizen Nelida Azucena Sosa de Forti.
The following are some extracts:

Case No

Name

US Interest

Status...

364-78-5

Corte, Arturo

Amnesty Intl

Detained...

365-78-5

Patrignani, Carlos

New Jersey Bar As.

Detained

372-78-5

Goldberg, Marta

Dept. of State

Disappeared

456-78-6

Villani, Mario

WOLA

Disappeared

7-76-11

Misetich, Antonio

AAAS, NAS

Disappeared

71-77-5

Sos[a] de Forti, Nelida Azucena

Disappeared

Document 7: Subject: Efforts to Account
for the Disappeared, May 10, 1979

This remarkable document quotes General Saurez Mason -
one of the senior military officers arrested on July 10
by Judge Bonadio - as having told a foreign ambassador in
1979 "that he had signed 'fifty to a hundred death
warrants per day' over a long period" during the height
of the repression. In addition to giving a chilling sense
of the magnitude of the slaughter, Saurez Mason's quote
suggests to the Embassy that "extensive records exist
(or have existed) accounting for perhaps several thousand
deaths."

One of the most impressive documents in the
collection is the seven-part Airgram-46 of June 19, 1979,
whereby the U.S. Embassy in Argentina sends "for the
Department's permanent records and use" a copy of the
cards on nearly 10,000 cases of human rights violations in
Argentina (most of them disappearances) compiled by the team
led by Allen F. (Tex) Harris. Each part contains about 400
pages, three cards per page. On the first pages of parts one
and five are the names of Dominga and Felicidad Abadia Crespo,
workers of the LOZADUR ceramics factory disappeared in 1977,
and of Uruguayan citizen Sara Mendez and her disappeared son,
both captured in 1976.

A source using the alias "Jorge Contreras"
updates Embassy officials on secret detention centers, the
fate of the disappeared, and the organization and structure
of the security and intelligence apparatus. The source explains
the coordination of clandestine operations between the Army,
Navy, Air Force, and Federal Police through task forces in
the "Reunion Central" located at Intelligence Battalion 601
headquarters. According to the source, this counterinsurgency
set up permitted indiscriminate operations that, "If the operation
netted a terrorist or subversive group member it would be
publicized. If it brought in a house wife or 'someone's aunt'
or an embarrassment it could be denied by everyone." The case
of "Jorge Sznaider and five other young people on May 12"
is cited as an example.

This Memo by James J. Blystone, Regional Security
Officer (RSO) at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires, notes two
recent changes within what it calls Intelligence Battalion
601: 1) the Intelligence Analysis Division, which had studied
the PCR/PST/PO, had been split into two new divisions; and
2) two new divisions, one to study political parties and one
to study exterior activities, had been created. This is actually
the chart of the unit "Reunion Central" within Intelligence
Battalion 601. According to Argentine sources, the unit was
responsible for scores of disappearances. The chart shows
how the chain of command leads directly up to the Army Head
General Leopoldo F. Galtieri. On July 10, 2002, Argentine
Judge Claudio Bonadio issued warrants for the arrests of Galtieri
and more than 30 other military officers in the disappearance
of Horacio Campiglia and Susan Pinus de Binstock (see next
document).

This is one of the rare documents that help elucidate the
fate of a disappeared person. In this memorandum to Ambassador
Castro, James J. Blystone, RSO at the US Embassy in Buenos
Aires, details his April 2 meeting with an Argentine intelligence
source. The anonymous Argentine source describes to the
Embassy's Regional Security Officer how Horacio Campiglia
and Susana Binstock, who were part of a special Montonero
unit called the TEI (Special Infantry Troops) embarked on
an offensive at the time, were captured by Argentine officers
of Battalion 601 (in coordination with Brazilian intelligence),
taken to Argentina and held at the Campo de Mayo Army base.
Campiglia and Binstock were never seen again. The source
also talks about another 12 Montoneros recently captured
and taken to Campo de Mayo. Another disappeared, Jara de
Cabezas, is being held by the Navy.

In this telegram from the U.S. Embassy in
Buenos Aires to the State Department, the Embassy details
information received from a source when discussing the recent
disappearance of several PST members in Rosario. The source
also explained orders that had gone out late the previous
year regarding security procedures. Active Montoneros, including
members of the TEI and TEA forces, were to be dealt with in
the same way as before, which is described as "torture
and summary execution." Operations against other groups
were to be conducted "openly and within the Argentine
legal system." The source states that these other groups
would include those who sympathize with the Montoneros or
who had cooperated with them at a low level in the past. When
asked why the security forces do not at least bring captured
TEI and TEA members in front of military courts, the source
gives two explanations: "First, the security forces neither
trust nor know how to use legal solutions. The present methods
are easier and more familiar. Second, there is no responsible
military man who 'has the courage' to take formal responsibility
for the conviction and execution of a Montonero. Under present
rules 'nobody' is responsible on the record for the executions."

Document 13: Subject: Hypothesis
-- The GOA as Prisoner of Army Intelligence, August 18,
1980

The document states that the clear involvement
of Intelligence Battalion 601 in the kidnapping of Argentines
in Peru, the death of one of them in Madrid, and the recent
coup in Bolivia are an embarrassment that the Argentine government
does not seem capable of stopping. The document states that
"the continued tactic of murdering Montoneros without due
process is no longer necessary from a security point of view
and extremely costly in terms of Argentina's international
relations. (There is a countervailing theory that these tactics
were the product of a written doctrine elaborated soon after
the military took over. General Rivera's comments earlier
this year suggest to some that this is so.)"

Document 14: Subject: A source
in Argentine intelligence services reviewed the following
subjects with me, August 21, 1980

601 Command: Col. Mucio presides over
but does not rule at the 601 his sub-ordinates operate
pretty much as they wish presenting Mucio with faits accomplis.
Mucio's immediate subordinate is Col. Bellini, a hardline
political troglodyte. Under Bellini is Col. Roldon and below
him is Col. Arias Duval An operation like Bolivia would
have involved Army G-2 and not the 601. The Montoneros: my
source said the Montoneros have no more than 20 activists
and 20 sympathizers within Argentina. Last month security
services rolled up 12 Montoneros who tried to infiltrate the
country.

Document 15: Subject: Relations
Between the Alfonsin Government and the Armed Forces, March
21, 1984

"Summary: Relations between the Alfonsin government
and the Armed Forces appear to be better than the pre-inauguration
doomsayers predicted, but they are far from trouble-free.
The Armed Forces appear to accept the principle of presidential
leadership and Alfonsin recognizes the need for caution in
interfering in military affairs if he is to void eroding that
acceptance. The officer corps seems willing to face limited
budget cuts, some reorganization, and the punishment of the
most corrupt and egregious violators of human rights during
the last regime."

"Unease About Human Rights Investigations
Most military officers were involved to some degree in the
struggle to put down subversion including its violent aspects.
The deliberate policy of the Armed Forces during the peak
period of the struggle, 1975-1978, was to ensure that the
bulk of the officer corps, and noncoms [non commissioned officers]
as well, participated in anti-subversive operations. According
to a source who was very close to the decission-makers at
the time, the objective was two-fold: to prevent the emergence
of an elite body of soldiers with combat experience and to
compromise the entire institution in what the leadership recognized
were methods that subsequently might be questioned."